It depends, you must admit, upon the commonplace conception of marriage;
and before we go any further I should like to give you my own
conception, not of the institution, but of the particular marriage which
I have in view."
So he had it in view! It was not an inspiration, but already quite a
prospect! Rachel made an acid little note of this; but there was no
acidity in her permission to him to proceed; her turn was coming last.
"The marriage that I propose to you," continued Steel, "is simply the
most convenient form of friendship of which I can think. I want to be
your friend; indeed, that much I mean to be, if necessary, in spite of
you. I was interested in your case, so I came up to hear your trial. I
was more interested in your trial, but most interested of all in
yourself. There, indeed, the word is too weak; but I will not vex your
spirit with a stronger. My attraction you know; my determination you
know; even the low wiles to which your pride reduced me, even my dodging
and dogging, have been quite openly admitted to you on the first
reasonable opportunity. All this business of the shipwrecked daughter
was of course a crude device enough; but I had very little time to
think, and my first care was that you should not be recognized here or
elsewhere in my society.
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